#11: Acquire
This is it - the granddaddy of designer games. (OK, you can now commence arguing if I'm right or now.) Whether you agree with me or not, Acquire has had a huge effect on designs & designers: witness Alan Moon's Get the Goods & Union Pacific, or Wolfgang Kramer's Big Boss - all owe a great debt to the genius of Sid Sackson. [Mark: And ixnay on the whole open/closed holdings debate, okay?] David Fair: "The very first "real" game I ever played. Still tough, still interesting, still a great game. Defines the term 'All-Time Great'."
Joshua Miller: "A landmark in game design, Acquire is a delicately-textured counterpoint of many levels of strategy and tactics. And despite the rather drab and somber appearance, it's not an intimidating or brain-burning type of game."
Mark Edwards: "This venerable classic continues to appeal."
Labels: The One Hundred
posted by Mark (aka pastor guy) at 8:04 AM
6 Comments:
The unveiling of #11 through #15 has me really excited! I'm not big on St. Petersburg, but Acquire, Lord of the Rings, Bohnanza, Cosmic Encounter are all fantastic games. Three of the four don't even make the top 100 at Boardgamegeek, and Acquire is in the top 100 but not the top 50.
It's looking like every game from the top 15 I submitted will make the top 100. We've already seen Attika, Titan, Cosmic Encounter, Time's Up, Daytona 500, Acquire, Carcassonne, Robo Rally, and Goa.
My other six were Tichu, Euphrat & Tigris, Ra, Age of Steam, Power Grid, and El Grande. Any of these missing the top 10 at this point would be a shocker.
My prediction for the other four: Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, Settlers of Catan, and Ticket to Ride.
Ticket to Ride may have been too new; I can't remember exactly when we were asked for our choices, but Goa which was released around the same time made it at #50. If Ticket to Ride doesn't show up, then I think it may be Santiago instead. Other possibilities are YINSH, Amun-Re, or Traders of Genoa.
So my prediction for the top 10, in no particular order:
E&T, Puerto Rico, El Grande, Settlers, Princes of Florence, Ra, Tichu, Age of Steam, Power Grid/Funkenschlag, and Ticket to Ride.
The last one is the only one that doesn't feel like a lock to me.
cool, to see acquier this high on lhe list.
I like it a lot, but we allways play the pre-avalon hill version without the cards. I like this one better, because of less fortune and the fact that play is more straight forward.
No argument from me, Mark. I don't particularly care for Acquire, but there's no question in my mind that of the releases we call "designer games", Acquire was the first, was one of the most influential, and may have been the earliest one to open people's eyes to a different kind of gaming experience.
I'm glad to see this on the list, but I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Acquire. This largely has to do with the fact that, in nearly every game, SOMEONE is hammered by the way the tiles are drawn (and it certainly seems like that someone is me, more often than not). So this is an occasional game for me, rather than a regularly seen one - I enjoy it (usually).
Even when I am the one on the receiving end of bad-tile karma, I still appreciate what this game brings to the table.
If you like acquire, then you need to check out Get Hostile! at http://www.gethostile.com
I've played Acquire with my family for nearly 2 decades. Currently I play on www.gethostile.com and the level of competition is better than I can muster up at home. Glad to have the opportunity to play this classic whenever I get the urge!
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